Memphis Post Game Thread

[CTBasketball]

One thing I neglected to mention. Memphis did something that only one team has done to us previously, they switched on every matchup. Kansas did that last year. Hurley called it out. It takes away our off the ball screen game (which we didn't execute well either). Leaves us with more situations where guys need to attack a mismatch and I think we were often hesitant.

So I'm curious to see whether Colorado attempts to pull that off or not. If they aren't switching we probably get a lot more open looks outside. Still worried about the defense, it's not that good right now.

You need the right personnel to pull it off, but it doesn’t help we are not as athletic as we were the last two years.

 

[Conndog]

Haven’t really seem anything out of Ross that exhibits the kind of bounce you need to play the 1 or 2, and to fill that much needed void. He’s a 3, who is clearly still developing and towards what feels more like the Swiss Army knife profile. What this team is dying for right now is great ball handlers that can create, and defend. He got beat twice yesterday on plays Memphis cleared the floor to take him one on one. Not really sure what he brought to the floor yesterday, being a Reggie Lewis clone and al

 

[jibsey]

Nobody here is saying it’s definitely Nowell that would change our guard situation. The only way to do it is actually see him, but Hurley and the staff have seen him a lot in intense practices against starters and so far they don’t believe he can do it I’m guessing. Either that or Shirley’s loyalty to Maheney is to give him more rope. I don’t that’s wrong either but the next 4-5 games will be big for Maheney.

 

[Conndog]

Just thinking outside the box a little- you are probably right, Ross might not be a good point guard possibility.

 

[jimva]

Love Hurley, but he didn't just cost us the game, he cost us the opportunity to play other higher level teams in this tournament, and the lessons it would have provided. He's lucky he can't/won't be suspended. Could've been a huge victory and building block. It will still be remembered for the great comeback, but it was a cake without icing.

Stewart moves up in the rotation. He gives us some extra muscle too. He needs to hire a PR person, or put his face on a billboard.

Reed is really polished at both ends. Love him. He'll be playing a lot more minutes. Can't believe the Michigan fans weren't more upset about losing him.

Mahaney moves down, but can earn his way back. He needs time to adjust to a higher level of competition, and a more complex system.

Ross needs more minutes so he can develop. He's hardly played.

Liam turned the corner and is an intense competitor.

Ball, like Stewart, has a quiet confidence and takes davantage of every opportunity to shine. They add muscle to our lineup too.

Sampson is better when he come in off the bench. His quickness plays better as a relief pitcher, and his tendency to foul won't put us in a hole. We keep expecting him to be Donovan or Adama, which he's not. Time to invest some minutes in Singare too.

Karaban has displayed more growth than I thought was possible. He's better in every facet of the game. Is he the most mature player we've ever had and maybe the most intelligent too? Coaching material some day.

Hurley did not cost us the game. The teams play and coaching decisions the previous 40 min did. This fact doesn’t change my feelings about his actions, but to put the cost of losing on a 30 second outburst at the end of the game is confusing disappointment with his behavior and all that went on during the game.

 

[walski]

The loss is on Danny, but not for the T. Everyone in the world could see that Mahaney and Samson weren’t working, but Danny played them way too much to start the second half.

It really reminds me of how he kept playing all those minutes w Carlton. I don't care what he did in Houston, he couldn't play here.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Death, taxes and the boneyard comparing a UConn player to a great from 30 years ago based on a Hurley quote and one nice play against a tomato can.

Lesson be learned for future years - a breakaway dunk against St Mary’s school for the blind of Oklahoma doesn’t translate to looking a lot like Ray Allen.

I know you're being hyperbolically funny here, but it is undeniable that the kid has a solid fundamental skillset and has elite athleticism.

He only got 101 minutes of live game time last year, and only 3 games with over 10min. Almost all were garbage-time meaningless minutes

He came out of the gate strong to support the hype, but he's still obviously gonna need game reps to figure things completely out.

I expect him to pay important roles on D and O as we head into Big East play and beyond. And to show more flashes of play that remind us of the best of past UConn greats!

 

[freshler40]

In Samson's defense, he only played 14 minutes according to the box score. His foul troubles allowed Reed to have a monster night. Credit Samson ;-) jk.

I totally get the frustration about Samson's mind boggling fouls. But I'll take undisciplined aggressive defense over allowing uncontested shots, free passes, etc.

And the OT technical - the kid he pushed ran into him from behind. It was a reflex reaction. No excuse for pushing the player, but it wasn't simply blind aggression. My guess is the refs saw this when considering the follow-up technical, which was a little lame.

I love Samson. It's not easy to be the best you can be, after three seasons of Helter Skelter playing time. I'm glad Hurley seems to be giving him a chance to settle in to a stronger role.

Samson will be a big part of this year's success.

Have you seen an optometrist lately? He can't hold his ground. He doesn't have an eye of rebounds. Hope I'm wrong but this is four years later.

 

[BlueandOG]

Hurley did not cost us the game. The teams play and coaching decisions the previous 40 min did. This fact doesn’t change my feelings about his actions, but to put the cost of losing on a 30 second outburst at the end of the game is confusing disappointment with his behavior and all that went on during the game.

I disagree. The team was in position to win until his outburst. His T put us in a hole that the team could not climb out of.

 

[TheHorde]

Nobody here is saying it’s definitely Nowell that would change our guard situation. The only way to do it is actually see him, but Hurley and the staff have seen him a lot in intense practices against starters and so far they don’t believe he can do it I’m guessing. Either that or Shirley’s loyalty to Maheney is to give him more rope. I don’t that’s wrong either but the next 4-5 games will be big for Maheney.

We desperately need guard penetration on offense and the ability to stop guard penetration against us defensively.

 

[DRBackup]

To your point, one thing about the Memphis team today, was they had a number of 4-5 year transfers. Think of the value a 5th year Cam Spencer brought. Of course there are freshmen who can compete, but as you say it is rare.

Indeed, by KenPom's data, they have the 6th most D1 experience in the country. Their average player has 3.11 years D1 experience. UConn is middle of the pack at 1.73

 

[DRBackup]

Well…So is Hurley.

Not the same thing. I know you think you're being witty, but its not the same thing.

 

[444JR]

Been saying since this summer, Ahmad Nowell is Jalen Adams freshman year ready to contribute. Hopefully his hand heals up quickly.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Not the same thing. I know you think you're being witty, but its not the same thing.

Not trying to be witty. He was acting unprofessional for much of the game. Refs aren’t told to ignore everything. They made bad calls, Hurley let them know quite demonstrably every time. It was a matter of time before he got punished, they gave him a very long leash.

 

[DRBackup]

“The whistle favored Memphis the entire game…”
Every losing team’s fans always think the refs had it in for them

Hate to break it to you, but 40 FTA is objectively more than 24 and 29 PF is objectively more than 21. That's not an opinion.

 

[TheHorde]

Not trying to be witty. He was acting unprofessional for much of the game. Refs aren’t told to ignore everything. They made bad calls, Hurley let them know quite demonstrably every time. It was a matter of time before he got punished, they gave him a very long leash.

Hurley has an emotional stake in his team so it’s understandable at least to some degree for him to get angry and agitated. Did he take it too far? Sure. Referees are not supposed to be that emotionally invested. I haven’t heard one explanation that changed my mind on the Ball getting elbowed play that went to the monitor replays. In my opinion, the officials let a grudge they had against Hurley allow a bad call to stand. And that’s not even touching on the Liam phantom over the back foul call. If there was ever a time for a good actual makeup call that was based on sound officiating, that was it.

 

[444JR]

We can't base our season on Mahaney learning how to become a very good point guard and improving a ton on defense. Newton is simply bigger than him, more physical, and was getting 5 assists per game before he came to UConn and he had the advantage of playing alongside Spencer and Castle who had size and could play point, and Jackson the year before who had size and could play point.

Weren't you the same poster that jumped all over me for saying that Mahaney shouldn't start because a backcourt of Mahaney and Diarra was too small? I'm glad you have seen the light, granted you are specifically talking about Mahaney at pg now. This will still be an incredible season, but we had unmatchable size+skill throughout the lineup the last two championship seasons.

Tangent: I have the utmost faith that Hurley, Kimani, Luke and Tom will get the right rotation sorted out with this group.

Nowell/Diarra/Mahaney
Solo/Ross/Mahaney
McNeeley/JStew/Ross
Karaban/JStew/McNeeley
Reed Jr./Samson/Karaban

A rotation like this, with Isaiah Abraham waiting in the wings if needed, feels closer to the "bullet proof" type of lineup we had last season; albeit without two top seven draft picks.

Excited to see how the team bounces back and if they coaching staff makes any adjustments to the rotation.

 

[superjohn]

I know you're being hyperbolically funny here, but it is undeniable that the kid has a solid fundamental skillset and has elite athleticism.

He only got 101 minutes of live game time last year, and only 3 games with over 10min. Almost all were garbage-time meaningless minutes

He came out of the gate strong to support the hype, but he's still obviously gonna need game reps to figure things completely out.

I expect him to pay important roles on D and O as we head into Big East play and beyond. And to show more flashes of play that remind us of the best of past UConn greats!

People compared him to Dr. J, Ray Allen, Reggie Lewis and someone said he's a guaranteed top 10 pick after this season and the best athlete he's ever seen at UConn.

This was based off of 14 points against UNH. They were really impressive minutes and his one baseline move was a big time NBA move but he has a ways to go and he was getting compared to all-time great NBA players based off of a cupcake game.

I like his longterm potential and he has really good athleticism, should become a really good defender, plus a shot that looks like it will be good but he still looks very raw. Handle looks loose, blow byes on defense, and he seems to be playing a little skittish.

 

[Hunt for 7]

I guess it is time to state the obvious, if you read through the posts in this thread. The recurring theme is we have a problem at the guard position.

Unfortunately, great guard play is what wins chips.

It is only one game but we need better guard play and that is not an opinion it is a fact. And I am not sure where it is going to come from which is a bigger concern.

 

[DRBackup]

Remind:

Two straight Nattys. Our cup is overflowing.

This team is not the team of the last two seasons, not close. Sooooo much inexperience. Who knows what the ceiling and the floor will be....it's a real mystery box. Maybe we become one of those squads that's truly positionless and just throws waves of wing players at you. It's worked before and might again.

And other teams don't stand still waiting for us to get our dookie together; there are more than a handful of title competitors that are better than we are right now either due to cohesion, talent, or both. Just let Hurley cook. If it happens it happens if not......eh. As long as we don't fall off a la 'Nova or UNC back in the day. And I don't think we will.

Another thing:

Memphis is an OLD TEAM. That's been a running conundrum in college basketball-do you go heavy High School and development, or heavy portal and experience? Hurley's preference is the former, at least for most of the roster. If we want to shift field we probably need to get a different coach and I will never be in that boat. Never. I hoped he would blow off the Lakers and when he did I was very happy. Still am.

Hurley's approach has consistently been a mix of 1) incoming high level youth, 2) development of returning players, and 3) infusion of experience through the portal.

1) Castle, Clingan, McNeeley, 2) Ball, Sanogo, Stewart, Jackson, and 3) Newton, Spencer, Reed, Diarra

 

[bmayuc]

Three working theories from the first 4 games that were validated by Memphis

1. Tarris Reed is much better than Samson, and needs to start. This will have the dual impact of improving our starts AND maximizing Samson in the role he's already proven to excel - change of pace big dunking on opponents 2nd team.

2. Our guards are much smaller than last year and physically weaker - so they can't get to their spots to initiate offense and then run through multiple iterations and get clear vision. I don't know the solution here, but its really gumming up the whole works. TNewt/Steph/Cam is a big, strong pack of ballhandlers. Mahaney, Diarra, Solo just needs to be stronger with the ball. Maybe this is why I like the idea of getting Ahmad Nowell minutes. I think he is the best and strongest ball handling guard on the roster.

3. Im kinda worried that Jayden is following in the same buzz/reality cycle as Samson. The missing ingredient with both is strength/ruggedness. You see the athleticism and skill package and get seduced by it - but lack of functional strength means the guys get tossed around when the intensity level rises in game conditions and they can't transfer their skillsets into production.

 

[FearThePups]

People will blame the refs, but that's secondary to me.

Our coach lost that game for us more than any player. That was an embarassment to the program, and a reversion fo 3 years ago. Massively disappointing. No player should be help accountable until Hurley apologizes to this team.

I've said it for a long time and taken a lot of flack. Samson simply isn't that good. Love the kid--but he isn't improving nearly enough. Start Reed.

Guard play will be our biggest weakness. Mahaney was suppsed to replace Tristen but has looked more like Joey California, unfortunately. I'm not really even seeing the flashes of brilliance you'd hope for from a guard making the transition to a new program. Diarra is a solid 6th-man, no doubt.

Pretty obvious we don’t have a lock down wrench like Stephon this year. I believe that’s what cost us this game. And Mahaney is no Cam.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Hurley has an emotional stake in his team so it’s understandable at least to some degree for him to get angry and agitated. Did he take it too far? Sure. Referees are not supposed to be that emotionally invested. I haven’t heard one explanation that changed my mind on the Ball getting elbowed play that went to the monitor replays. In my opinion, the officials let a grudge they had against Hurley allow a bad call to stand. And that’s not even touching on the Liam phantom over the back foul call. If there was ever a time for a good actual makeup call that was based on sound officiating, that was it.

Ball’s was the right call, Tarris’ was the wrong call, IMO at least.

 

[TheHorde]

Ball’s was the right call, Tarris’ was the wrong call, IMO at least.

Is Ball not entitled to his space? He was not “leaning in” as some claimed. He was in a defensive stance and the Memphis kid swung his elbows wildly in front of his body initiating the contact. Agree to disagree completely.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Is Ball not entitled to his space? He was not “leaning in” as some claimed. He was in a defensive stance and the Memphis kid swung his elbows wildly in front of his body initiating the contact. Agree to disagree completely.

He isn’t entitled to the offensive player’s cylinder, no.